1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a base of a foldable baby bed, more particularly a base of a foldable baby bed, which can be folded smoothly, and which has relatively uncomplicated structure.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The applicant of the present invention disclosed a base of a foldable baby bed as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 in U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 09/859,382, now abandoned.
Referring to FIGS. 8, and 9, the base of a foldable baby bed frame 4 includes four supporting feet 41, a middle support 1, four connecting members 2, and four horizontal support rods 3. Vertical support rods of the frame 4 are connected to respective ones of the supporting feet 41. The horizontal support rods 3 are pivotally connected to respective ones of the feet 41 at outer ends thereof.
The middle support 1 consists of a main body, and a locking mechanism, which includes a control 14, a locking plate 193, and two pivotal shafts 17. The main body of the middle support 1 has a through hole 11 on a center of a top thereof, two juxtaposed parallel connecting holes 16, and gaps 161, which are formed on two lateral sides to communicate with respective connecting holes 16. The main body has curved recesses 151 formed at two ends of the top to face respective gaps 161. The main body 1 has an elongated hole 131 extending from a front side to a rear side, and recesses 13 around two ends of the elongated hole 131.
Each of the connecting members 2 has a hole 21, a extending post 23, a connecting room 22, which is defined by first and second stopping wall 221, 222.
Each of the pivotal shafts 17 is turnably passed through respective connecting holes 16 with two ends thereof sticking out from the main body, and has an engaging pin 171 sticking out from a middle thereof to be received in the gap 161.
The control 14 has a handle, and holed cams 142 at two ends of the handle. The locking plate 193 has locking holes 194 at two ends, and a round hole in the middle.
In combination, the horizontal support rods 3 are passed into the holding room 22 of respective connecting members 2 at inner ends thereof, and are pivotally connected thereto. The connecting holes 21 of the connecting members 2 are connected to respective ends of the pivotal shafts 17. The locking plate 193 is arranged in the main body of the middle support 1. The holed cams 142 of the control 14 are mounted onto respective recesses 13 of the main body, and a pin 143 is passed through the elongated hole 131 and the cams 142 so that the control 14 is pivoted to the main body. The pin 143 is also passed through a connector 12, which is up and down movably positioned in the hole 11. A bolt 19 is passed through the connector 12, a spring 191, the central round hole of the plate 193, a spring 192, and screwed into a nut in sequence at a lower portion.
Thus, the control 14 can be pivoted on the main body to control position of the locking plate 193; when the cams 142 are positioned upright, the locking plate 193 will be positioned at an upper position capable of engaging the engaging pin 171 so that the baby bed is fixed in stretched position; when the cams 142 are positioned in laid down position, the locking plate 193 will be positioned at a lower position not capable of engaging the engaging pin 171, allowing the bed to be folded.
The base of the baby bed can be unlocked to be foldable by means of moving the control 14. However, the base is found to have disadvantages as followings:
1. The locking mechanism of the base consists of many parts, and the structure is complicated. Therefore, assembling costs much labor and time, and manufacturing cost of the base is increased.
2. Should one of the locking holes 194 fail to disengage its corresponding engaging pin 171 completely when the locking plate 193 is moved to the lower position to allow folding operation of the baby bed, the corresponding pivotal shaft 17 can""t be turned. Consequently, damage is likely to be caused to the pivotal shaft 17, the engaging pin 171, the locking plate 193 and other associated parts if corresponding support rods 3 are still forced to cause this pivotal shaft 17 to turn.
Therefore, it is a main object of the present invention to provide a base of a foldable baby bed, which is not subject to damage in folding operation of the baby bed in case the locking mechanism fails to unlock completely.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a base of a foldable baby bed, which has relatively uncomplicated structure, and can be assembled easily and with less labor.
The improvement on the baby bed base mainly has an elongated hole, which is provided on the center of the locking plate instead of the conventional round hole. Therefore, the locking plate can slide lengthwise over the top of the middle support of the base besides moving up and down for locking and unlocking of the pivotal shafts, to which the horizontal support rods of the baby bed base are connected.
In case one of the locking holes of the locking plate fails to disengage its corresponding pivotal shaft completely when the locking plate is moved to allow folding operation of the baby bed, the corresponding pivotal shaft still can be disengaged from corresponding locking hole to be turned because the elongated hole is so long as to allow the locking plate to move in a direction same as the longer side of the locking plate for certain distance.